Extreme cleaner shares what happens to your body if you die alone
An extreme cleaner who specialises in scrubbing down crime scenes and cleaning up after suicides has shared what happens to your body if you die alone.
Harry Aedy, 28, is a senior technician for ICE cleaning and often he's the first person into a house after the emergency services have left.
Over the years he's helped clear out hoarders' homes, dealt with chemical spills and handled the aftermath when people die at home alone.
Harry, from Gillingham, Kent, said that when someone dies alone, they are often not found for days or even weeks.
Harry has shared what happens to your body if you die alone (ICE cleaning)What do you think about extreme cleaning? Let us know in the comments...
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Revealing what happens to your body, he said that flies are soon attracted and start to leave larvae in decomposing flesh, leading to maggot infestations.
Harry - who also tackles mould remediation, fire damage, trauma cleaning, sewage, floods, mercury spillages, graffiti removal and end of tenancy deep cleans - says it is the 'trauma cleans' that stay with him the longest.
Some months bring two trauma jobs, others bring 10, but each time Harry knows how to get the harrowing job done.
"I've been to a few where it's a result of a suicide, or it could be an elderly person that's naturally died and has gone unnoticed, or it could be a general accident - slip, trip or fall," he said.
"The most memorable was during last summer, when we had that heatwave for about four or six weeks, we had one scheduled in where it was a gentleman that had fallen over from his bathroom into the kitchen.
Harry Aedy has had to clean up some harrowing scenes at work (ICE cleaning)"He'd gone unnoticed for about three weeks during the heatwave. All doors and windows were locked, the decomposition with the heat - the smell that came off was memorable.
"In that case, we gained entry wearing the correct PPE - wellington boots, a full white suit so our whole body was covered, masks, goggles and gloves."
While dealing with the aftermath of a dead body might sound traumatic to most people, to Harry it's just another day in the office.
Explaining how the job unfolds, he continued: "We found the affected area, the area of the incident, took photos for reference - on all jobs we take photos before we start anything.
"We gauge what's on-site, and gather the necessary photo evidence of what we need.
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"This was over a carpeted area in the hallway onto a tile flooring in the kitchen, this had happened over a period of time so there were maggots and larvae that grew and were present at the time.
"We had to use pest bombs that give off a smoke residue that kills pests that are present, then we had to strip the carpet, and zip tie it into hazardous waste bags for disposal.
He does normal jobs too, like removing graffiti (ICE cleaning)"The remains had already been removed. Sometimes you get a wide area of blood, or bodily fluids, from both ends you know."
ICE cleaning take on jobs that other cleaning firms would turn down, and alongside trauma cleans Harry has also tackled hoarders' homes - which sometimes take hours to clear even the smallest of spaces.
Harry continued: "We've done many hoarder cleans - there're different types. Some people collect things over a certain period of time, and some individuals that have some mental health condition just have a lot of possessions in their property.
"I've done some where it's just belongings and things they've collected, but the other end of the spectrum there was one lady who had been collecting things for about 20 years.
"I was finding letters dating back to the early 2000s and empty food containers and bottles containing urine. It was pretty much waist deep.
"It was rubbish and belongings spanning 15 years, with stuff like that we had skips ordered and we started in one room and sort through what is to be thrown and if we come across any personal items like photos, mobile devices, jewellery, money, we put that into a separate corner and contact the relative who is a contact on the job.
"We did one a couple of weeks ago, just one bedroom, we probably filled about 90-100 rubble bags and we cleared the room in a day.
"But I've been to one where it took us two days to clean half a room, it all depends on the items they are hoarding - sometimes you find a knife or something sharp so you have to take care to dispose of these things accordingly."
Harry became an extreme cleaner after deciding he needed a change from his old job, and he wanted a profession where no two days are the same.
He said that sometimes he gets strange remarks from family and friends, but he's learned to brush it off over time.
Harry concluded: "I've come from a background of work where I've always been outside, I started off in a roofing company, then a commercial window cleaning company, so I was going down cradles cleaning windows in Canary Wharf, then I found this job - I knew it would be something different every day, it keeps the working life interesting.
"When I bring up that we clean crime scenes and trauma cleaning, that gets people interested - it's not that common, a lot of people are interested in it.
"Everyone's got a different stomach, my partner doesn't like to talk about it because it makes her feel funny but I can talk to a colleague at work about it and they do it too so it's just a normal day."
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